Taken for Granted
by Lialane Graest
Summary: The kishin has been defeated at long last and Marie has returned to Oceania. Stein sits in his lab, lost in his thoughts, trying to piece together what is going on in his mind. Spirit arrives to help cheer up his friend, and makes a discovery that everyone had already suspected. "Stein, you have to tell her." "I know, Senpai, I know." Credit to DracRaz of deviantart for the pic :3
1. You Have to Tell Her

Marie didn't wake him. Stein cracked his eyes open much later than he had grown accustomed to waking. He didn't smell coffee. He didn't hear anything from the rest of the lab. He readjusted his glasses and noted the lack of a blanket on his shoulders.

He stood and left the lab area, his back cracking as he stretched. He didn't use Soul Perception. He knew what he would find, and he didn't want to accept that right now. He wandered the halls of his empty lab for a short eternity before sitting down on the purple couch.

Her purple couch.

He lay back against it, letting his head rest against the top of it, and exhaled a long stream of smoke before glaring at the cigarette and extinguishing it. He had wanted to believe that she wouldn't leave him. He had wanted to believe that when he woke this morning she would have come to her senses and retired from being Oceania's death scythe. He wanted to believe that she would be here with him until the end.

The truth was stark and glaring. She was gone, and it was his fault.

"_And what reason did she have to stay?"_ He whispered to himself. _"The kishin was finally defeated. I've not had any episodes of insanity that were bad enough to warrant someone with me since then. Oceania needed its death scythe."_

A knock on the door drug him out of his thoughts. He just looked at it, his soul perception looking through it. The soul on the other side wasn't interesting. He leaned his head back against the sofa again as the door swung open and Spirit stepped in.

"You know, Stein, you're supposed to answer the door when someone knocks." Spirit chided.

"Marie did that."

"Yeah… well… it's something that you're going to have to start doing again, Stein."

Stein was silent for a moment. "I don't want to."

Spirit sat down beside the scientist. "So, what does your science and anatomy lessons tell you now, Stein?" Stein turned his head to look at Spirit as the man continued. "I may not know exactly what's going on in what's left of your brain, but I can tell you one thing. You're acting like me right after Kami left me."

Spirit pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and tapped two out, handing one to Stein. The man took it and placed it between his lips without lighting it. Spirit lit his own and then tapped Stein's shoulder, handing him the lighter. Stein hesitated before handing it back. Spirit looked at him strangely.

"She didn't like my smoking." He said plainly, his head lying back against the couch as he resumed staring up at the ceiling, the unlit cigarette still hanging from his mouth. "Funny how I don't want to smoke now because of her, but when she was here I never gave a thought to quitting."

"It's easy to explain." Spirit said, exhaling a stream of smoke before snuffing his cigarette against the bottom of his shoe.

"Enlighten me with your wisdom, Senpai." Stein drawled out sarcastically.

"You love her."

Stein gave a dry laugh.

"It's true, Stein. Look at you. You're _moping._ Since when does Franken Stein mope? Since when does the brilliant _Doctor Franken Stein_ not have an experiment to be working on?" Spirit asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, turning his head to look at the other man.

Stein was silent, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

Spirit took his silence as permission to continue. "Look, Stein, I know that you've had issues understanding emotions, but this is one that you have to let yourself figure out. Marie deserves to know that her leaving hurt you."

"There's no pain, Senpai." Stein said with uncertainty in his voice.

"It's not physical pain, Stein. That aching hole? That's what I'm talking about. You feel like you have no reason to even get up and move. Hell, I bet that you haven't even eaten today, have you?" Stein just shook his head. Spirit stood. "Get up, we're going to go and get food."

"I'm not hungry. Besides, Marie wouldn't be cooking until around 6 and its only 4. I'm not ready to eat." Stein looked at the other man as Spirit laughed.

"That's what I'm talking about, Stein! Marie this, Marie that! You love her and you just don't understand the feeling. She's been gone two days and no one's even seen you since she left; you didn't even see her off."

"I couldn't."

"You weren't busy." Spirit replied, throwing Stein his lab coat. "Let's go." Stein sighed and stood up, following the death scythe out the door.

"No, I wasn't." Stein said as they left. The door shut behind them with the resounding clang of metal on metal and the two men started walking.

"Then why didn't you go, Stein?" Spirit asked, slipping his hands into his pockets.

Stein twisted the screw in his head, and when he answered it froze Spirit's heart with the mournful tone he had. "Because if I watched her leave she would really be gone. That way I could fool myself into thinking that she was just on another mission, not half way around the world and gone forever."

Spirit was silent for a long minute as the two walked. When he spoke, it was just to repeat something he had already told his friend. "Stein, you have to tell her."

The scientist just sighed. "I know."

* * *

**A/N :D I hope that wasn't too terribly OOC- but I have to imagine that Stein would have taken her presence for granted and even become attached to her. :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	2. Six Days

Stein sat in front of his computer, Spirit having left after forcing Stein to go out and eat something. The scientist pondered how to tell Marie what he had discussed with Spirit, and finally ruled out calling.

"Calling would just make me seem desperate, according to what I've heard the students talk about." Stein reasoned with himself. "That leaves either an email, a fax, or a letter. Sending something via the mail would mean a delay of probably at least a couple weeks, perhaps closer to a month."

Stein leaned back in his chair, discarding faxing from the list. He didn't own a fax machine. Stretching his arms above his head, he cracked his knuckles.

"Email it is then." He said, opening the program. He spent the next 2 hours writing and rejecting multiple drafts before finally settling on a plan.

With only a slight smirk he hit the send button.

* * *

Marie lay curled up on the sofa in her office, a laptop in her lap. The death scythe yawned, ignoring the fact that it was nearly 3am and she had a meeting at 6am. As she was beginning to close the laptop a familiar trumpet sounded out* and she switched to the page where her email was open.

Her mouth fell open.

_Sender: Franken Stein  
Time: 2:57am  
Subject: Come home.  
Size: 3kb  
Body: Attached file_

Marie opened the attached file and felt a smile spread across her face, even though the way he chose to ask would normally have made her pound him right in the screw with a hammer transformed arm.

Stitched into her purple couch in thick black thread was the word "Please".

* * *

"So, have you talked to Marie yet, Stein?" Spirit asked a few days later, catching the man after classes were over.

"I sent her an email." Stein said, rolling alongside Spirit on his chair.

"You told her you loved her in an email? Seriously, Stein? Women don't take that type of stuff seriously." Spirit rolled his eyes at Stein.

"Of course not. I just asked her to come home." Stein explained.

"Well what else did you say?" Spirit stopped walking, looking down at the scientist.

"Please."

Spirit laughed. "So all you said was 'Will you please come home, Marie.'?"

Stein just shook his head. "No. The subject was 'Come home.' and I sent a picture of the word please stitched into her purple sofa."

Spirit bent double laughing. Stein just watched, turning the screw in his head, his face neutral.

"Sometimes you're such an idiot, Stein!"

* * *

Two weeks passed, and Stein never received an answer from Marie. He was slowly becoming accustomed to doing things for himself again, and remembered to eat with only minimal prompting from Spirit. He found a new experiment to throw himself into, and spent long nights awake and working on it. He went so far as to have Sid cover his class while he was working on it.

Which is why when he woke up to a blanket on his shoulders and the smell of coffee in the air that he was incredibly confused. The scientist stood and glanced at the clock on his desk, noting with disdain that it was already close to 4pm. Stretching he stepped out of his lab area into the sitting area, and his glasses fell from nerveless fingers when he saw the person laying on the stitched purple sofa.

Her head lay against the arm rest, cradled in the crook of her arm, her blonde hair cascading over it. Her red lips were parted slightly while she breathed, her chest rising and falling delicately with each breath she took. A book lay on her thigh, the pages down with the spine in the air. Stein felt an unfamiliar emotion surge and he took a deep breath before bending down to retrieve his glasses.

"_Marie…"_ He said quietly, not quite believing the sight in front of him. His soul perception confirmed it. It was Marie sleeping in front of him, her face smooth and untroubled, completely at ease. No other person could ever, would ever, be that comfortable here. Stein moved to the sleeping woman and delicately, with a surgeon's touch, brushed one fingertip across her cheek.

She didn't disappear as one of his hallucinations would have, but rather opened her eye and smiled at him, yawning cutely. "Is it morning already?" He jerked his hand back.

"I don't believe so, Marie. Last I checked it was just a little after 4pm."

"Bleh. I don't see why I'm so tired then. It is only 9am for me. I made some coffee before I sat down to read." She said around a yawn.

Stein just stared down at the woman. She patted the sofa invitingly and smiled up at him. "You wouldn't believe how many strings I had to pull to make it out here, Franken. Azusa is watching Oceania for me until I get back."

Stein was still silent, but he sat down on the sofa beside her, itching to touch her again and make sure that she was real.

"I have a week, Franken. Six days, actually, I have to leave after that to get back to Oceania on time." She said quietly.

Stein's head jerked up. "You can't."

"What?" Confusion showed on the death scythe's face. "I have to go back to Oceania, Franken. It needs a death scythe. Azusa doesn't mind covering for me, but I'm going to have to go back unless I have a reason to not to. Some reason to retire from being Oceania's death scythe." She shrugged her shoulders slightly.

Stein couldn't form the words he wanted to say. He couldn't tell her what he had already admitted to himself. He sat silent, disbelief on his face.

"You're easy to read sometimes you know." She said with a smile on her face. "You have six days to convince me to stay, Franken."

* * *

**A/N: ^_^ I feel all warm and fluffy right now :D I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	3. Day 1: A Short Day

Stein stared in disbelief at the woman sitting beside him on the couch. "I have to convince you to stay?"

She smiled sweetly. "Of course you do, Franken. I have to have a good reason if I don't go back to Oceania."

Stein just stared blankly at her, and she reached out to pat his hand gently with hers. "You'll figure out something, I'm sure of it, Franken. If you don't, then I'll have to go back to Oceania. I'm sure that'll please Azusa though!"

She stood and stretched before turning to him and holding her hand out to him, a smile on her face still. "Let's go see the others, Franken. I came straight here after I arrived at the airport so I haven't seen anyone but you yet."

He reached out and took her hand, standing without her assistance. There was a flash of memory and before Stein could let himself think about the action, he mimicked what he had seen Spirit do so long ago when Kami was angry at him; pulling Marie into his arms with a flick of his wrist he held her tight.

He stood that way for a while, Marie breathing gently against his chest. He didn't say anything; words were unnecessary. He could see the joy in her soul, and knew that he had made the right decision. When he released her she surprised him by stepping back from him, a slight blush on her cheeks. His hands lingered on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Franken, but that's not enough to convince me," she said coyly. "You'll have to try harder than that!"

* * *

As they walked into town Marie pulled a phone out of her purse and sent a few text messages, yawning widely. By the time they reached the restaurant that Marie insisted they eat at the others had already arrived. Nygus, Sid, Spirit and a smattering of her students were loitering outside the restaurant. Marie grinned widely and rushed to hug Sid and Nygus. Spirit held out his arms and Marie laughed a bit, giving him a quick hug and a peck on his cheek.

Stein's heart twisted in his chest, an unfamiliar emotion rising that he quickly tamped down as he watched Marie and Spirit's interaction. She returned to his side though and the feeling disappeared as quickly as it came. Stein felt the unfamiliar itch in his hands to touch her again and confirm her reality, and fished a cigarette out of his lab coat's pocket as he denied the urge. Marie plucked it from his hand before he could light it, laughing.

"You can't smoke inside the restaurant, Franken!" She said happily, flicking the cigarette away from them before linking her arm through his, practically pulling him into the restaurant behind the rest of the group.

Stein sat quietly during the dinner, picking at his plate until she scolded him for playing with his food. The scientist just smirked and actually made an effort to eat, though he still ate far less than the others. Marie yawned through most of the dinner, the others teasing her about the time while they all laughed at the joke. Stein didn't find it very funny. Desynchronosis (jet lag, in layman's terms) did have a tendency to make an individual incredibly tired, along with a slew of other medical conditions that he hoped Marie wasn't going through.

Once they had all finished eating Marie paid for it all, laughing when the others tried to object. "I have an expense account for a reason!"

The group just laughed and they stood outside chatting for another half an hour before dispersing. Marie slipped her arm through Stein's again, leaning on him slightly for support, as another deep yawn escaped her.

"I think I'm ready for sleep," she said around the yawn. "It feels like it has been such a long day!"

Stein chuckled. "Technically, you've just relived the same day again, Marie."

The woman laughed and the laughter turned into another yawn. She stumbled slightly as they made it back to the lab; once again Stein drew on a memory of Spirit with Kami and swept Marie off her feet, carrying her into the lab and up the stairs carefully. The death scythe giggled the entire way, though the giggles became weaker and weaker the closer they got to her bedroom.

He nudged the door open with his foot and walked over to her bed, gently laying the woman on it. "You should get some sleep, Marie. After your trip you obviously need it," he said quietly as he turned to leave her room.

"You have five days starting tomorrow morning, Franken. You had better be awake then!" Marie called out after him. When he checked on her fifteen minutes later she was fast asleep.

* * *

Stein sat in front of his computer, typing notes for his latest experiment. The hours were quickly slipping away from him, yet the scientist didn't even notice until he felt a light hand slip around his left cheek, pushing his glasses askew as it covered his eye.

"_You haven't even slept, have you?"_ The voice whispered in his right ear.

Stein turned his head to glance up at Marie's face. She was holding her left eyelid closed; her eye patch missing. Stein stared for a moment at the slightest depression in her eyelid, the telltale sign that the eye below it was missing, curiosity welling up in him. He itched to reach out and touch the eyelid, to feel the hollow below it. He placated himself by letting his left hand touch hers as he removed it from his eye.

"Is it morning already?" He asked, repeating her words from earlier back to her and Marie laughed.

"Technically, but it really is only like 3am. You should get some sleep, Franken. I'm going to be waking you up early anyway." The woman stood and stretched, pulling her arms high above her head. "I wonder how long it'll take me to get back onto a normal sleep schedule, I'll probably be just getting used to going to sleep when I should be here when I have to go back to Oceania!"

"You're not going back, Marie." Stein said quietly.

"Then you had better get some sleep tonight so you can convince me tomorrow! Prove that you don't need the five days you have left to convince me, Franken." Marie smiled happily as she turned around, tugging on the hand that he didn't even realize he hadn't released.

Standing awkwardly he followed Marie up the stairs and to his room where she stopped and pushed him in. "Now then, you better get some sleep! Morning is going to come very early!"

Stein just grumbled as she pulled the door shut and laid back on his bed. Sleep claimed him shortly afterwards.

* * *

Azusa Yumi opened her eyes sleepily as the phone rang and she sighed. "Yumi Azusa, East Asia Death Scythe speaking. What do you need?"

"It's working Azusa!" Marie's voice nearly screeched through the phone and Azusa held the phone away from her ear.

"I'm glad to hear that, Marie. Can I go back to sleep now? Surely you haven't forgotten how much of a time difference there is between us now."

"He held me today! And he carried me!" Marie's voice trailed off into a high pitched screech of pure happiness.

"That doesn't mean your plan is going to work, Marie. This is Stein we're talking about." Azusa sighed, resigning herself to less than the normal amount of sleep.

"It's going to work, Azusa." Marie said, her voice completely serious. "I'm finally going to get to retire!"

* * *

**A/N: I struggled with this chapter, tbh. I hope that you are all still enjoying it.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	4. Day 2: Putt putt

Marie woke him early, just as she had promised that she would. He blinked the sleep from his eyes, staring up into her brown one. Before he fully woke, he found himself speaking. "It wasn't a dream."

Marie stepped back, laughing. "It's time to get up, Franken. We only have five days until I have to go back to Oceania." She left him room as the scientist sat up in bed, looking around for clean clothing. He could smell coffee. He also noted the fact that his cigarettes were gone. He grabbed his clothing and stumbled to the small bathroom he had, taking a quick shower and changing before exiting.

Marie sat with her legs curled up under her on her purple couch with a cup of coffee and her book when he came down. "Breakfast is on the table, Franken," she said indifferently, an empty plate sitting beside her. He picked up the plate of eggs and bacon and came back into the sitting room, sliding down beside her on the couch and eating in silence.

When he finished he did something he had never done when she lived with him. He stood, walked past her and picked up her plate, heading back to the kitchen. A smile flitted across her face once Marie was certain that he couldn't see it, and she waited a minute before following him into the kitchen.

Stein stood washing the dishes in the sink. Marie couldn't keep from giggling at the man; the sleeves of his lab coat, while rolled up, came dangerously close to the water on more than one occasion. Stein looked over his shoulder and smirked at the woman.

Marie just laughed harder, and leaned against the wall, watching him wash the dishes she had dirtied. "It's not enough, Franken," she said, suddenly. "I don't think that you doing dishes is a good enough reason for me to leave Oceania without a death scythe, do you?"

"Would my not doing dishes be enough?" He asked, his hands dangling above the soapy water. Marie smiled.

"You wish." The death scythe laughed.

Stein turned to look at her, his expression serious. "Then tell me what is, Marie. Whatever it is, I will make it happen."

Marie's shocked expression was priceless and the scientist just smirked at her. She then ruined the moment.

"Oh, don't think you're getting out of it that easily, Franken Stein. You're a genius- you can figure it out on your own, or it isn't that important to you that I stay!" She smirked right back at him, and then turned, leaving the scientist to the dishes.

Stein just sighed. _"I hate washing dishes."_ He murmured quietly to himself.

* * *

Marie was still sitting on the couch when he came back in, his hands wrinkled from the water. Wiping them on his lab coat he looked over her shoulder at what she was reading.

"You still read that dribble?" He asked laconically.

"There's nothing wrong with a little romance in someone's life, even if it comes from a book!" She laughed, closing the book. "Besides, I had to wait for you while you were wasting some of our second day. That only leaves four after this one, Franken." Marie smiled at the exasperated look on the scientist's face.

"I don't know what you want, Marie," he said quietly.

"A good enough reason to stay, that's all." To her credit, Marie managed to keep from blushing. She was _not_ going to tell him what she wanted, though it should be fairly obvious.

Stein cranked the screw in his head, replaying past conversations with Marie. With a clank the screw turned over and he focused on one conversation in particular.

_Marie sighed as they watched the kids play basketball. "There's no chance of me finding someone to marry when there are only kids around…" Stein's mind fast forwarded through the intermission. "Well, I don't have a boyfriend anyway, so before I get married I guess I better do some work!"_

Stein smirked suddenly. Marie looked confused and his smirk grew wider, all their conversation of marriage (one sided, admittedly) flooding back with the click of the screw. He knew now what she wanted, without a shadow of a doubt.

If that is what it took to keep her here instead of Oceania, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. However, as the scientist smirked down at the woman sitting on the couch, he did realize one thing. If she was willing to play this game, so was he. She would wait until the fifth day, the last possible minute, for him to give her a reason. Until then, she would have to deal with his experimentation.

The smirk grew as he bent down over the back of the couch and pressed his lips against the top of her head. He chuckled at the blush that spread across her cheeks, his hypothesis confirmed. Marie did love him, and he felt certain that marriage was her ultimate goal. It was honestly no surprise once the scientist thought about it.

He walked around to the front of the couch and held his hand out to her. "Let's go then, Marie. We'll do whatever you want today, even if it means leaving the lab." Marie reached out and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet.

She released his hand, stepping around him delicately. "I want to play putt-putt golf, Franken," she said sweetly with a barely hidden smile.

Stein sighed, "Alright, Marie." He followed Marie out of the lab, the metal door swinging shut behind them and they walked side by side towards putt-putt golf course.

Marie laughed the entire time they walked, talking about the people in Oceania. A couple times she slipped her hand into his and Stein held it until she became animated about what she was talking about and pulled it from his hand to gesture wildly in the air. He found himself truly laughing a few times as Marie described herself snorkeling, her cheeks puffed out and her hands acting as fins on the side of her face.

Once they arrived at the course she darted ahead of him, ordering them both a club and getting two balls. She chose a yellow one for herself and then handed Stein a light blue one. He looked at her in askance and she laughed.

"Your soul is blue," she said as if it were the most normal thing in the world to say. "I've heard the others who've seen it talk about it. Mine's yellow." She smiled and held up the two balls. "So we got yellow and blue!"

Stein just nodded, her insistence about the ball color to the clerk making sense at last, and took the light blue ball.

"We're going to do the beginner course, since neither one of us as played this for a while!" She said happily as she skipped ahead of him. "Ladies first!" She crowed out, placing her ball on a tee and hitting it towards the small hole in the clown's mouth in front of them.

Stein waited patiently as she tried four times to shoot the ball through. He then placed his ball and hit it through with one swift motion.

"No cheating, Franken!" Marie called from the other side of the clown, and his ball came back through the hole. Stein just smirked, and moved to retrieve his ball, deftly shooting it through the hole again. Marie's voice rose in a cheer. "Your ball just hit mine in!"

Stein chuckled, walking around the clown to look at the hole. Sure enough, Marie's ball was in the hole, his sitting on top of it. She picked both of them up and tossed his to him. He caught it and followed her to the next hole.

Suddenly, spending a day playing putt-putt didn't seem so bad.

* * *

Late that evening they sat on the purple couch, eating pizza. Marie was still gushing over the day, making sure to rub it in his face that he had lost to her, Stein just grinning wryly. Marie didn't understand that the lower the score in golf, the better.

The woman yawned and stretched. "I'm still not quite used to the time!"

"Go get some sleep, then, Marie." Stein said, though he had to stifle a yawn himself. It looked almost as if she was going to say something, but the woman stood and started gathering the paper plates and cups to throw them away. Stein grabbed his own before she could take it and stood as well, following her into the kitchen to throw them away.

Marie returned to the living room to get the leftover food and put it in the fridge. Stein surprised her when she turned, and took the pizza box from her. He bent down over her as he did, his lips brushing against hers.

There was a smirk in his eyes and on his lips when he pulled away from her. "Is that enough of a reason, Marie?"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to DracRaz over at deviant art for the cover art for this. He graciously gave his permission for me to use it. Thanks!**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	5. Day 3: Not Yet

Marie just stared at him in shock as he stepped away from her. He smirked and twisted the screw in his head, waiting for her response.

"Well, is that a good enough reason, Marie?" The scientist chuckled at the still shocked expression on her face.

It took the woman a second to recover. "Of course it isn't," she said in an unsure voice.

"Oh? Then perhaps something a little more?" He stepped to her and wrapped his arms around her, his lips pressing gently but firmly against hers. Marie made a sound that was reminiscent of a squeak against his lips and he felt her hands push against his chest.

She was breathing heavier and Stein could clearly see the emotions running through her soul, which is why it surprised him when she drew her hand back and slapped him. His head snapped to the side as she shouted, "How dare you!" and left the room. He heard the door to her room slam shut a second later and he absentmindedly rubbed the side of his face.

Quiet laughter drew his attention and the scientist looked up to see Spirit holding his sides, obviously trying not to break down laughing. Stein turned the screw slowly, waiting on Spirit to stop shaking with laughter. It took almost a minute for the death scythe to stop.

"How long were you there, Senpai?" Stein asked, menace in his tone that Spirit seemed to completely miss.

"Well, I tried knocking, and when you didn't answer I let myself in. So… I saw everything from where you half-ass kissed her to the actual kiss that got you slapped!" The weapon let out another burst of laughter. "You do realize that you're going to have to apologize right?"

Stein just raised an eyebrow. "I fail to see how I need to apologize for my actions, Senpai."

"You can't just take my word on it?"

"We both know your track record, so no, I can't."

Spirit collapsed on the purple couch with his head in his hands. _"Kami… Maka…"_ Before the weapon could descend into blubbering gibberish Stein grabbing the man's arm and propelled him back out of the lab.

"You're not going to start balling and bother Marie," he said quietly as they stepped out of the lab.

"So have you even told her yet, Stein?" Spirit asked, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He held the pack out to Stein and the man hesitated before shaking his head. Spirit shrugged, lighting his cigarette.

"I haven't, Spirit."

"You need to, Stein." Spirit said as he exhaled the smoke straight up.

The scientist glanced up, towards the window that led into Marie's room. "I don't know how," he finally admitted.

"It's easy; just tell her what you told me." Spirit shrugged.

Stein chuckled. "That would be giving her exactly what she wants, Spirit." The weapon just looked at the scientist. "She wants me to give her a good enough reason to stay."

Spirit laughed. "You know what that means, Stein! Marie wants you to-"

"Don't say it, Spirit," the scientist said quickly.

"-pop the question!" Spirit finished his sentence anyway, laughter bellowing from the man.

Stein remained silent, just looking at Spirit. The weapon looked at Stein. "You know, for an idiot, you came to the proper conclusion awful quickly, Senpai. Perhaps there has been some change in the composition of your mental processes. I believe that I have enough time before I absolutely have to sleep to do some scans and perhaps an experiment."

Spirit snubbed the cigarette out underneath the heel of his shoe, barely hidden panic on his face. "I've got to go now, Stein. Good luck."

The scientist chuckled as the weapon dashed away from the lab. Turning he reentered the lab and headed to his room.

* * *

Stein cracked his eyelids open to the sound of banging. Yawning he stood and left his room, wandering down the stairs and into the kitchen. There, in front of his bleary eyes, Marie stood balanced on a chair, her hammer transformed arm banging on the top of one of the kitchen cabinets. He watched as she banged on it for a few more moments and then cleared his throat.

It obviously startled her. She whirled to face him, apparently forgetting that she was standing on a chair and lost her balance. Even as she started to fall, a scream ripping from her throat, Stein was darting towards her to break her fall. He managed to take the blunt of it, cushioning her with his own body. Marie darted up and off of him almost immediately, her entire face bright red. He stood on his own.

"What was so important that you couldn't wait for me to get up to fix, Marie?" He asked, looking up at the cabinet.

"It wouldn't close and I couldn't sleep and it kept bothering me and I didn't think I was going to be able until I fixed it." Marie said in a rush. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I can't sleep, I'm exhausted."

Stein glanced at the clock on the wall, "It's only 2:30am, Marie. I can give you a sleeping aid and that way you and I can both get some rest." He reached up and removed a bread tie that had gotten wrapped around the hinge. "Here's the culprit," he said as he pushed the cabinet shut, showing Marie the bread tie.

Marie blushed again, the red creeping down below her collar. Stein smirked, "Back to bed then, Marie?" The woman just nodded, heading upstairs. Stein stopped by his work lab and grabbed a sleeping aid for her, knocking on her door once he made it up the stairs. There was no answer and he pushed it open cautiously.

Marie was already asleep, having collapsed onto her bed. Stein chuckled, moving into the room and rearranging the sleeping woman underneath the blankets. Stein felt curiosity surge as he removed her eye patch, but he tamped it down as quickly as it came.

He retreated to his room, and lay awake the rest of the night, drifting off only minutes before Marie came to wake him the next morning.

* * *

**A/N: Oh ho! How tricky, tricky! That wasn't Day 3; it was the night of Day 2! I hope that you enjoyed it :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	6. Day 3: Good Morning

"Can't we sleep in once?" Stein asked sleepily, the early morning sunlight pouring through his suddenly open blinds more than he was willing to deal with on the two hours of sleep he had gotten.

Marie giggled slightly, and he looked over at her when she sat down on the side of his bed. She reached out and flicked his nose and Stein raised an eyebrow at her.

"Four days, Franken!"

Stein sighed and closed his eyes. _'Marie Mj_ö_lnir is going to be the death of me before these four days are up if I don't give her what she wants.' _The sudden absence of Marie's weight on the bed made him open his eyes back up.

She was digging through his dresser. "Marie, what are you doing?" She didn't answer him and Stein sat up and grabbed his glasses off the end table beside him, another yawn escaping him. "Marie?"

A pair of pants flew through the air, landing on the bed near him. One of his stitched shirts followed. Marie turned and smirked at him, "You better be dressed and ready to leave when I get back, Franken!"

Stein watched as the woman left his room. He felt like he had been caught in a hurricane for some reason.

* * *

Marie never came back. Stein waited for about ten minutes, wondering whether leaving or not would be a good idea; he could sense her soul just downstairs. Finally he gave up and left his room, stretching and yawning still, his body almost demanding sleep.

He couldn't help but chuckle when he found Marie asleep on the couch, a cup of coffee precariously balanced on her knee. She was breathing slowly and deeply. Stein carefully took the cup and sat it on the table, and then picked the slumbering death scythe up. Her head lolled against his chest and even though she didn't wake Stein could feel the contentment in her soul.

He carried her up to her room, placing her in her bed as he had the previous night. As he turned to leave he felt something catch at his lab coat. Turning he looked down at the woman. She was obviously still half asleep, but she was looking at him.

"_I'm sorry for slapping you," _she said quietly, yawning at the end. Stein chuckled and just left.

* * *

Marie woke up again around noon. Her head was pounding and she moaned slightly into the pillows. She stood up and stumbled a bit, the pounding in her head even worse than she had originally thought. Sighing the woman walked across the hall to the bathroom and yawned again. She ran some cold water and washed her face, but the headache didn't abate.

Only after she dried her face off did she realize that she could smell food. Not only did she smell food, but it smelled good. Curious she came down the stairs, wincing a bit at the sound of the steps creaking. She came around the corner and into the kitchen and just stared.

Stein was cooking. Marie forgot her headache and just stood in the doorway, watching as the man stirred the pot on the stove. Her pot. A sudden giggle drew his attention.

"I thought that you didn't need anything beyond what you had already in the lab to cook with, Franken!"

The scientist turned and looked at her, and she could see the dark circles under his eyes. "I simply couldn't sleep and thought that you would like something to eat that wasn't from a restaurant or a can when you woke," he explained.

She smiled and opened her mouth to say something when he interrupted her. "Yes, Marie. I know," his voice took on a high pitched singsong falsetto. "'It's not enough.'"

He turned completely to face her. "I don't care." Marie's eye grew wide as the man continued. "If my actually wanting you to come home isn't enough for you to stay here, with me, then I don't know what else I can do. You'll have to forgive me, but you know that I am not the type of person to wear my emotions on my sleeve. Most doubt I even have them."

Stein suppressed the smirk until he turned back to the pot that he was cooking in.

"You want me to stay, Franken? You honestly want me to stay and the email wasn't some joke?" Marie's voice was quiet and he looked over his shoulder at her.

The woman stood leaning against the doorway, her arms wrapped around herself. "You came all the way here believing that it was a joke, Marie?"

"You do have a pretty sadistic sense of humor sometimes, Franken…" Marie trailed off.

Stein was silent. He looked back at the pot he was stirring and heard her move to the table. They remained in silence for a few moments and then Marie sniffled. It was as if that single sniffle opened a flood gate. Stein turned back to her as she laid her head in the crook of her arm against the table, silent tears falling down the side of her cheek.

The scientist turned the burner on the stove off and sat down opposite her at the table. One hand reached out and he wrapped his long fingers around hers. "Marie, I wouldn't have sent the email if I hadn't actually wished for you to come home. I've become… accustomed to having you around. I'm… fond of you."

Marie looked up at him, a small smile on her face even as tears continued to fall. She then surprised him. "That's not enough, Franken. You could come back to Oceania with me if all you wanted was my company."

Marie pulled her hand from his, a smirk on her face as she stood and went to stir the soup he had cobbled together. "Give me a reason to stay _here_ with you, Franken."

The scientist was quiet, his now empty hand turning the screw in his head.

* * *

**A/N: So I had planned on doing one day a chapter… but honestly, I'm having way too much fun writing this to try to compress it all like that. So voilà. The morning of the third day.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	7. Day 3: The last day?

"You'll stay with me because you want to retire, Marie." Stein said suddenly as Marie was spooning some of the soup up. He smirked when the ladle was sat back into the pot.

Marie turned to face him and the look on her face wiped the smirk off his. "You think that I'll stay here just because I want to retire? You treated me only slightly better than your furniture most days, Franken! I think you love that rolly chair of yours more than you are "fond" of me!"

Stein was speechless for a moment. "Marie, I don't understand you at all. One moment you're happy, and the next you're yelling at me for something that is completely irrelevant. What does my chair have to do with my wanting you to stay?"

She didn't answer, just spun on her heels and finished putting soup in the second bowl. Sliding it across the table to him she turned her back on him and left the room. Stein looked down at the bowl, not hungry in the slightest. He forced himself to eat, mainly to give her time to cool down.

He sat eating slowly and reading her soul for almost an hour before he stood to enter the living room. He stopped in front of the couch, towering over the death scythe. Marie just closed her book and looked up at him.

"Marie, I have four days to do what? Convince you stay here _with me?_ I have to figure out what the best way to convince you is," he took a breath before continuing, "but you won't tell me what it actually is that you want. Do you want me to say I love you? I wish I could say those words and truly understand what they meant. Do you want to know that I didn't follow you to the airport because I didn't know how to cope with the influx of new emotions that your leaving left me with? That I tried to fool myself into believing that you were only on a mission and not halfway around the world?"

Marie's eye opened wide as she looked up at the man who had never openly spoke about his feelings to her before. The man that was currently telling her more than she had ever imagined he would. And he didn't seem to be done.

"I know what you want, Marie. I just wish that you would actually tell me instead of beating around the bush. Perhaps it isn't that I need to convince you to stay with me, but that you're trying to convince yourself that you should be staying with me. You have four days, Marie, until you are supposed to go back to Oceania. I won't be going with you, so you'll have a choice to make: either you stay here with me, or you go alone." With that the scientist turned his back on her and walked into his work lab, the metal doors swinging shut quietly behind him.

Marie sat in shock on the couch. Tears welled up in her eye and she let them come.

"_I never once thought about what my leaving would do to him," _she whispered miserably. _"He asked me to come home, for Death's sake! And here I am, trying to guilt him into marrying me, just so I'll stay here and he won't be alone."_ Sudden determination washed over the death scythe and she stood, striding into his work lab.

She stopped and stared. Stein was bent over his computer chair, the familiar green and white patchwork upholstery shredded on the floor beside it. She called out cautiously to him, "Franken?"

He turned to look over his shoulder at her. There were no emotions on his face, and he answered her evenly. "Yes, Marie? Is there something you need?"

"What did you do?!"

"Well, you said I seemed to love the chair more than I am fond of you. I've never cut you apart, yet I just removed the upholstery from the chair," he turned to face her completely, his face still completely neutral.

Marie was shocked, and Stein chose to continue on. "It would seem that I may be fonder of you than I am of the chair, or Spirit for that matter, seeing as there were some nights I would experiment on him multiple times."

All of her anger disappeared with her first nervous giggle. She walked over to the scientist and knelt by his chair, picking up a piece of the upholstery. "Let me help you fix it."

Stein just smirked as he looked down at her, "You don't have to, Marie."

She just smiled. "But I'm going to, Franken."

Stein nodded and left the room momentarily as she sorted the shredded upholstery by color. She looked up at the computer screen he had been staring at so intently for a moment and couldn't keep herself from gasping.

There was a close up of her face on the side of it, sections of her eye circled and highlighted. Some of the sections were magnified, some were not. All of them were obviously being documented in as much detail as he could from the picture he had. Beside the picture was something she could only guess was a blueprint. A trembling hand reached up to touch her eye patch, and she wondered suddenly what it would be like to have two eyes again.

The screen saver kicked on a few moments before he returned and she busied herself handing him strips of white upholstery. When they were finished the chair had a few more stitches than it had to begin with, but Marie was back to her bubbly self. As she turned to leave the lab, this time without any demands of going anywhere or threats of time constraints, she heard Stein call out to her.

"I know you saw the screen, Marie. Your soul gave you away." The metal doors shut quietly behind her and Marie took a deep shuddering breath before retreating to her room, dialing Azusa.

* * *

"Yumi Azusa, East Asia and acting Oceania Death Scythe speaking. How can I help you?" The voice on the other side of the phone sounded tired.

"Azusa, I'm not coming back." Marie said in a rush.

"Did you finally get Stein to pop the question, Marie? I'm surprised that he did so soon, did he figure it out on his own?"

"He figured it out, surprisingly. We've had some interesting talks recently, Azusa." Marie said, smiling.

"Why don't you call later tomorrow, perhaps when you wake up and it isn't quite so late for me?" Azusa asked politely.

"Oh, Azusa! I forgot all about the time difference! I'm so sorry!"

"Goodnight, then, Marie." Azusa said tiredly, a resounding click ending the connection.

Marie lay back on her bed, a million thoughts racing through her mind. One stuck out in particular, though.

"_If I'm going to stay here, the least he can do is actually marry me. I'll tell him tomorrow!"_ Marie fell asleep after that to dreams of white stitched tuxes and a white wedding dress.

Stein looked in her door a couple hours after she had left him alone in the lab and found the woman napping. He shook his head and shut the door before proceeding to knock, rather loudly, on it.

A moment later he heard her mutter something about the toilet being the best man and he just shook his head, walking off. He slipped into his room then, his weary body conceding that a nap did sound like a good idea.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry about the OOC'ness here. At least, the perceived OOC'ness. I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, and thank you all for the reviews and kind words I've gotten about this.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	8. Day 4: Victory in the morning?

Stein woke to pounding, again. Cracking weary eyes open he noted with a small amount of trepidation that he had slept for nearly 12 hours, and that it was currently a few minutes after 7am. Standing Stein moved out of his bedroom and into the hallway, following the pounding noise to a small storage room he had cleaned out recently. The room was supposed to hold a rare specimen he had ordered, but customs was holding the endangered animal and Shibusen refused to help expedite the process and he was left with an empty room.

An empty room that Marie was currently in. The blonde had obviously been hard at work, and Stein stared at the room. Where the rest of the lab had one or two stitches along the walls and/or ceilings Marie had transformed this one into something else entirely. New shelving was hammered into the walls, a spider web of stitches connecting the shelves.

She had also painted, as the scent wafting out of the room attested to. The scientist stood hesitantly in the doorway, taking in the changes to the room. Overall he was forced to admit that he enjoyed the changes. He watched as she hammered in the last shelf and stepped back to look at her handiwork. She wiped her forehead with her sleeve, a grin on her face as she turned and stared at him in obvious surprise.

"Franken! Did I wake you? I'm sorry, I just couldn't sleep."

Stein raised an eyebrow, looking around the room. "You couldn't sleep so you thought that you would redecorate an empty room? You could have just come to me for something to help you sleep. How long have you been awake?"

Marie blushed and wiped her face again with her other sleeve, leaving a trail of gray-ish paint across her cheek. "Since around 3am," she said finally, almost reluctantly.

"You've done a wonderful job getting used to the sleep schedule, Marie. I suppose that is good, considering you'll be returning to Oceania in 3 days." Stein turned and started to move out of the room.

Before he could Marie darted to him and grabbed his arm, paint smearing on his white lab coat. "I want to talk to you about that, Franken."

The scientist smirked slightly, "Have you decided to stay then, Marie?"

"You're going back with me."

Stein's smirk fell off his face. "I thought I had made it clear that I was not, Marie. You either stay, or you go back alone. I will not be leaving my lab; I have important experiments that I am not willing to leave."

The blonde stood her ground, staring the taller meister down. "Are they more important to you than me, Franken?"

Stein turned the screw in his head, searching for the correct answer. He chose on a neutral one. "I cannot simply leave them, Marie. They require my attention."

A smile spread across Marie's face, "Well, if they are so important to you that you can't leave them, but not as important to you as I am, I suppose I have no choice but to stay." Marie stepped closer to him, staring up into his face. "However, if I am going to stay, there is something that you are going to have to do, Franken. It's important to me, and key to me staying here."

He stared down at her, his face impassive as she continued, "I want you to marry me."

She shifted nervously in front of him, uncomfortable with the silence. Stein continued to stare down at her, his face a blank. The death scythe felt like she was wilting under his dry gaze, and she felt her bottom lip quiver slightly as she imagined the rejection, tears forming in her eye.

And then he laughed. True laughter slipped from the man, a smile pulling at his lips. Marie stared in shock as he did.

"Franken?" Marie said warily, stepping back from him. Worry was painted across the woman's features.

Stein moved quickly, long arms grabbing her and pulling her into his embrace. As he held her there she listened to his heartbeat, the gentle rasp of air in and out of his lungs, and the words she never thought that she would hear Franken Stein say to anyone, much less her.

"I will marry you, Marie," he said quietly into her hair. "But there is a condition."

She looked up at him questioningly.

"You have to accept that there may come a time when you will have to leave me. It will be no different than it is now, Marie. In fact, you may want to wait a little while before we are." The low rumble of his words echoed against her cheek. She just nodded against his chest as he continued. "I will not have you harmed because you're too stubborn for your own good."

She pulled away from him then, swatting playfully at his chest. "You're the one who asked me to come home!"

A smirk stretched the corners of his mouth and he said, "Indeed I did, Marie. Would you like to retire with me?"

The death scythe stepped into his awkward embrace again, resting her cheek and ear against his chest. She counted the beats of his heart as he held her, pleased that her plan had worked, even if it wasn't exactly how she had pictured it would.

Titling her head up to look at him she smiled. "I would love nothing more than to retire with you, Franken."

* * *

**A/N :D He did it with a couple of days left ;D**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	9. Timeline Abandoned: Victory!

Stein stood holding Marie and looked around the room. "Marie, what were you doing to my storage room?"

She pulled out of his loose embrace and turned to look at it. "You know, I'm really not certain. I had this grand image in mind when I started it, but this is what it turned into."

She twirled around a bit, dancing back into the room. It was then that he realized she had on one of his old lab coats. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and he could see the splotches of paint on her neck, one that was on her ear, and another that made it look as if she had dunked the end of the ponytail into the gray paint. It was quite amusing to the scientist and he smirked.

Marie trailed into laughter suddenly. "I know what I was doing, Franken! I was going to make this a bit nicer for whatever it was that you're waiting on in the mail. I heard you complaining on the phone about it the other day. You're not going to be dissecting it are you? I went to an awful lot of trouble to clean this room up…"

Stein couldn't help but laugh at the pout on Marie's face. _'What other woman could ask me that without a sneer or fear running through her?'_ The answer was obvious: there was no other woman that could, and no other woman that he would want to. He answered her with a chuckle.

"You are not going to dissect it, Franken!"

Stein chuckled again at the look of indignation on Marie's face. "If it means that much to you, I may be persuaded to only vivisect it, Marie."

She regarded him warily. He spread his arms to his sides, his hands open and palm up. "It means the creature will live. I'll make sure to put it back together once I've learned what I can without allowing it to die."

A smile crossed her face briefly before indignation crossed it again. "You were going to dissect it though, weren't you?!"

Stein took a step back as the look of indignation turned to anger. "It shouldn't matter what I was going to do, Marie, only what I'm actually going to do now," he said quickly as he backed out of the room.

The door slammed in his face and Stein breathed a sigh of relief. Smirking, the scientist turned and walked down to his research lab, sitting down in front of his computer and reading through his notes. He was so absorbed in them that he didn't sense Marie standing behind him until he felt an arm wrap around the front of his chest and her chin settle on his opposite shoulder as she looked over his shoulder.

"You're curious, Marie," he said as he leaned back. "You want to know what you saw on the screen earlier."

He could feel the heat in her cheeks as the woman blushed, her cheek nearly pressing against his. She didn't answer him, just nodded. He spun the chair around to look at her.

One hand reached out to gently cup the left side of her face, the woman's blush growing deeper as he lightly ran his thumb over her eye patch. "I'm going to remove the need for you to wear that, Marie. I'm going to replace your eye and give you your sight back."

Marie's face was as red as it could be. "If anyone else told me that, I wouldn't believe them."

He smirked, "But you believe me."

"I do," she said with a smile on her face, leaning her cheek slightly into his hand.

* * *

A couple hours later Marie sat on her bed, listening to the phone ring and ring. _'Maybe Azusa's too busy to answer the phone,'_ she thought to herself and was getting ready to hang up when the phone was picked up.

"For Death's sake, Marie!" Azusa's voice was strained. "You've been back in Death City for five days and you can't remember that I am 17 hours ahead of you? I know that it is 11am there, but it is 4am here!"

"How did you know it was me?"

Marie collapsed into giggles as Azusa continued her tirade. "Who else would be calling me at this time of the day! This had better be for a good reason; I haven't had a decent night's sleep since you returned to Death City!"

"It is, Azusa! Franken proposed!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Azusa?"

"He proposed to you? He actually said, 'Marie, will you marry me?'" Azusa's voice was incredulous.

"Well… no, he said that he'd marry me when I asked him to. Then he asked if I wanted to retire with him!" Marie collapsed backwards on her bed, hugging a teddy bear to her chest. "There's more though, Azusa!"

Marie could almost imagine Azusa pinching the bridge of her nose as the woman sighed. "And what would that be, Marie?"

"He's going to replace my eye! He said that he's going to fix it; I'll be able to see again out of it, Azusa! For the first time since I was a child!" Marie literally squealed at the thought, squeezing the bear until it looked as if the seams would pop.

"Isn't that just a little beyond what even Franken Stein can do? I know he's a good doctor and all, but still, that's something that no one has done yet…"

"I have faith, Azusa! Franken can do it!"

"I suppose we'll have to wait and see then. It wouldn't be the first time that Stein's done the impossible. Don't forget to send me an invite to the wedding, Marie, if it actually happens. Just don't let him string you along for too long, alright?"

Marie just giggled into the receiver. "I won't Azusa! Who would ever have thought that Franken would be the guy I ended up getting married to?"

Azusa gave a weak laugh followed by a yawn. "Half our graduating class thought that you'd abduct him and force him to marry you, or did you forget about senior year at Shibusen?"

Marie's face turned bright red. She had tried to forget the desperation she had felt when she realized that she was a senior and still didn't have a steady boyfriend. "You know, Azusa, if you weren't so far away I'd probably wallop you for bringing that up."

Azusa's laughter trailed across the line, but was interrupted by another yawn. "Alright, Marie. Congratulations, of course. Now, I am going to back to sleep, seeing as I have to be awake and at work in just a couple hours."

"Alright, Azusa! I'll call tomorrow sometime when it isn't so early!" Azusa didn't answer, just hung up the phone. Marie cradled it beside the bear against her chest, grinning.

The woman yawned, running over the tests that Stein had performed before she called Azusa. Vision tests, reaction tests, and something that had almost hurt but not quiet. He had said he was testing the density of her eye. He had only done it once, nodding at the results and asking if it had been uncomfortable. She had lied and said no. He had gone back to typing notes after that and she had left to call Azusa.

'_What do I do now?'_

Rolling off the bed Marie decided to go downstairs to cook a late lunch for the two of them, her stomach growling at the thought as she realized she'd been up since 3am and hadn't had anything to eat yet. Her step was light as she all but skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, all the support, and the encouragement I'm getting writing this. Love you all.**


	10. The Reason to Stay

Stein continued typing notes, using the new data that he had gathered from Marie to further the experiment that was beginning to consume him. A wry chuckle escaped him as yet another piece clicked in place, a smirk spreading across his face.

'_I brought the dead back to life, how hard can it be to replace Marie's eye?' _Stein thought with a chuckle. His hand reached for a cigarette and hovered above the pack for a second, a slight tremble just barely visible in it before he reached up and turned the screw in his head.

Spirit's voice startled him. "I see you're making good on that promise to try to stop smoking for her, Stein."

Stein uncrossed his legs and turned to face the death scythe. "It's not an easy promise to keep, Senpai. I imagine you giving up alcohol would be comparable."

The other man laughed quietly. "We both know that's not going to happen, Stein."

Stein just smirked. "What brings you here, Spirit?"

"Oh, I just came to see how things were going. Have you told her you love her yet? Or," the death scythe lowered his voice conspiratorially as he leaned in towards the scientist, "did she actually manage to guilt you into popping the question?"

Stein twisted the screw in his head. A sadistic grin slowly spread across his face and Spirit paled, standing back upright. "I believe that I do need to do some new scans of your brain, Senpai. Your mental processes appear to be much sharper than when we were students, which is at odds with the amount of alcohol you consume."

Spirit took a step back, a nervous laugh escaping the man. "Come on now, Stein. That's not necessary. We all knew that you and Marie would end up an item, even if you two didn't. It's just a surprise that it took so long for it to happen!"

Stein laughed, turning back to his work. "It seems that I was the only one unaware of Marie's feeling for me."

Spirit relaxed, walking up behind his old meister and looking over the man's shoulder. "Yeah, it was pretty obvious. You were just too caught up in your experiments to ever notice when anyone gave you any type of attention, not that a lot of the girls ever tried. If Marie hadn't left you'd probably have never given her a second thought, would you?"

"To be honest, no. It seems I was taking her for granted. Her presence does make this more tolerable." Stein said, his fingers moving rapidly over the keyboard. Spirit couldn't even read as quickly as Stein was typing.

"This?" Spirit asked.

Stein stopped typing and glanced up at the other man. "This, Senpai," he waved a hand in front of him, gesturing around the lab and at the computer as he continued, "all of this. Experimenting, living in the lab, existing in general. It's well, comforting, for lack of a better word, to know that I am not alone. I didn't realize the importance of it until I was alone again."

Spirit chuckled as Stein started typing again. "Let me guess, Stein, that's something else you haven't bothered telling Marie."

Both men turned as someone cleared her throat behind them. Marie was standing in the door to the lab, a blush dusting her cheeks. "Lunch is ready if you'd like to join us, Spirit."

"I really should be going, just dropped in to check on Stein." Spirit said excusing himself.

Stein stood, looming over the shorter man. "Marie took the time to cook, so you may as well stay, Senpai."

Spirit swallowed and just nodded. _'I had almost forgotten how intimidating Stein can be!'_

Stein literally herded Spirit out of the lab, closing the door behind them.

* * *

Marie stood washing dishes after Spirit had left. Stein had initially retreated to the lab, but had returned to the kitchen a moment later, watching her as she cleaned. Marie shifted nervously as she felt his gaze lingering on her.

"Did you mean what you said, Franken, or were you simply messing around with Spirit?"

There was silence behind her and if not for the fact that she could _feel_ his eyes literally burrowing into her soul she would have guessed that the man had left the kitchen. She sighed and returned to washing the dishes, sliding each newly clean dish into the rinse water before washing the next.

She jumped when she felt gentle fingers lightly touch her sides and push, spinning her around to face him. "Marie, I meant what I said. I was taking you for granted. I underestimated your importance to my daily routine." Stein's face was smooth and serious, his eyes focused only on her.

He awkwardly dipped his head towards her and it was obvious that he wasn't mimicking something he had seen before as he pulled her towards his body. His lips pressed hesitantly against hers and Marie could feel the blush spread across her face and she closed her eye.

He pulled away from her slowly, curiosity on his face. When she opened her eye he was still watching her. She giggled nervously, turning away from him. She could hear the screw turning in his head after a second.

"Well, Marie, have I given you a good enough reason to stay here with me?" Stein asked a few moments later and Marie turned to him with a laugh, splashing the dish water at him.

"Let's see… you're going to marry me and I'm going to get to retire with you. That's almost good enough," she said with a smirk on her face.

"Almost good enough?"

Wet arms wrapped around his neck and pulled his face down to hers as she kissed him. "Almost good enough, having to teach you how to properly kiss me is going to take more than the next couple days, so I think I better stay."

He just smirked down at her.

* * *

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater.**

**Thanks for all the support! Love you all!**


	11. The Woman's Right

Marie had already told everyone they knew. Stein just twisted the screw in his head as Marie danced around his research lab spouting details about the wedding, standing the man caught her elbow and pulled her into his arms. While the embrace was still awkward he was slowly learning and Marie relaxed into his arms. He stood there holding her until he felt some of the bouncy energy drain out of the woman before releasing her.

"I told you that we should wait a little while, Marie. We still don't have a date and my research isn't complete." Stein turned the screw in his head slowly as he looked down at her.

She just looked up at him, determination in her eye. "Franken, I've been waiting for years to get to plan a wedding. You're not going to stop me now!"

He just shook his head as she danced out of the lab and he returned to his research. "Perhaps I should have just sedated her…"

"You know, muttering to yourself in the dark really does further the whole 'Mad Scientist' stereotype, Stein," a familiar voice echoed into the lab.

"What can I do for you, Senpai? Marie is busy making plans at the moment, but I believe I could figure out how to make some tea, if you'd like."

Spirit just slipped his hands into his pockets. "I'll pass, Stein. I'd like to leave here with everything I came in with." Stein chuckled as Spirit continued, "Well, almost everything that is."

The death scythe pulled a small black box out of his jacket pocket and held it out to Stein. The scientist took it and opened it to reveal a pair of shinigami-skull shaped cufflinks. He looked up at Spirit.

"They were mine, from mine and Kami's wedding. I figure I already used up the bad luck in them, so you and Marie should have a happy marriage."

"Thank you, Spirit. We haven't even sat a date for the wedding yet, though."

"Yeah, I heard that you're trying to replace her eye before the two of you get hitched. Seems like a lot of work," Spirit lowered his voice slightly, "do you honestly think you're going to be able to restore her vision, Stein? She lost it so long ago."

Stein closed the lid on the cufflinks and sat them on the desk before answering. "I'm fairly certain that I've discovered a way to. It's taking a bit of effort, but I believe it will be worth it."

Spirit nodded. "Well, if anyone can do it, you're definitely the right person. You said Marie's already making plans?"

Stein just nodded.

"Kami started as soon as I asked, too. She didn't have as much time, though, with Maka on the way." Spirit hopped up onto the dissection table near Stein's computer. "Good thing you listened to me, huh, Stein?"

The scientist glanced over his shoulder at the red headed death scythe. "Each time we've spoken recently has only solidified my hypothesis that your mental processes are indeed greater than they were even a decade ago. I believe that new scans are necessary now, Senpai."

Spirit suddenly realized where he was sitting and hurriedly hopped off, his face pale. The man nervously tugged his suit jacket down as he stammered out, "I don't think so, Stein. Really, nothing has changed."

Stein smirked as the man backed away from him, terror on his face even now. A single giggle, easily detected as a fake, sent the death scythe rushing from the room, calling for Marie. Stein clasped his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling, his cigarette hanging from his lips. Leaning back he found himself facing the door to the lab.

Marie was upside down to him as Spirit physically pushed her into the room, cowering behind the shorter woman. Stein gave her a lopsided smile, smoke leaking from his nose as he chuckled at Spirit's obvious discomfort. Marie walked over to him and he took another drag of the cigarette, smirking and letting the cigarette dangle from his fingers, the smoke languishing in his lungs. Marie knelt in front of him and smiled sweetly; he chuckled quietly and began to exhale.

She pinched his nose shut even as her other hand clamped down over his mouth and he was forced to stop exhaling. She smiled over her shoulder at Spirit who was watching the proceedings curiously.

"He'll be fine, Spirit. Don't worry about him! I'll talk to you later," she said as she squeezed Stein's nostrils together a little harder than was necessary. His lungs were beginning to ache from the strain of holding his breath, but he didn't try to extricate himself.

'_Marie won't suffocate me, surely.'_ Stein reasoned with himself. A long moment crawled by. _'Perhaps she will…'_ His lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen as the smoke leeched into them. Spirit just laughed and left the lab.

Just when he thought he could hold out no longer she released her hold on his face. "You're going to have to quit picking on Spirit, Stein," she admonished him gently.

He couldn't decide for a moment whether to exhale or inhale once the option was granted to him again. Exhaling won, and stale smoke drifted out of his mouth and nose before he greedily sucked in a lungful of clean air. He was still looking at her from his upside down vantage point, and he could feel the blood rushing to his head.

"Interesting that you would scold me for picking on Spirit when you were obviously just bullying me. Torturing, if we're being completely honest." Stein drawled, looking up at her, his bangs mixing with the rest of his hair.

She laughed and bent over to place a quick kiss on his forehead. "It's different, Franken. I get to because I'm going to be marrying you. It's the woman's right."

"Do I have the same right?" Stein asked suddenly, sitting upright as she moved away from him.

"Oh, no. The man just has to put up with it," she said with a laugh as she left the lab.

'Well, that seems unfair." Stein said to the empty air, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

* * *

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater. **


	12. Wedding Present

Stein yawned, stretching as he stood. A smirk played across his face as he turned to face the small cage that held the subject of his next experiment. With any luck the next person on his operating table after this would be Marie. Stein grinned at the thought and walked over to sanitize his hands before slipping on gloves and starting the surgery.

Marie knocked on the lab door when he was halfway finished. Looking down at the sedated creature he sighed and slipped over to the door, careful not to touch anything.

"Franken, lunch is ready!" Marie sang through the door as he peered out the window.

"I'll come when I'm finished, Marie. Eat without me." Stein said as he turned and walked deeper into the lab, leaving Marie to pout outside the door.

* * *

Marie sat at the kitchen table nearly an hour later, idly stirring her tea with her spoon. She felt Stein before she saw him, and when she looked up the man was grinning down at her. He held something behind his back and she peered to the side to try to see what it was. He only shifted his body to block her view.

"What are you doing, Franken?" Marie asked quietly, curiosity bubbling.

"I'm debating on whether or not to show you your wedding present early," he said calmly, though his face was still cracked with a wide grin.

"We don't even have a date yet! I haven't had a chance to do much planning at all!"

"You've been planning for a month already, Marie. And I said show you, not give you," the scientist chuckled as the death scythe stood up and glowered at him. Stein just laughed louder as she stood on her tiptoes to look him in the eye. With a flourish he revealed what he had behind his back.

Marie's mouth made a perfect little 'O' of surprise; Stein was holding a black and white kitten out to her. It took her a moment to realize the significance of the animal though. Its left eye was… wrong. It looked normal, but the light didn't quite reflect off of it the same as the other eye. She looked from it and up into the stupid grin painted across Stein's face and it clicked.

"You… you…" The blonde was stammering for words, unable to form a whole sentence.

Stein laughed then. "I what, Marie?"

"You actually did it!" Marie exclaimed, squeezing the meowing kitten.

"It would seem so. Did you doubt me?"

Marie stood on her tiptoes, careful of the kitten and kissed Stein quickly. "Never!"

Stein watched as the woman danced out of the kitchen with the kitten in her hands, giggling. He lit a cigarette as he watched the joy soar in her wavelength, taking a deep drag of the cancer stick. Lifting his head he exhaled and walked slowly back into his lab; curiosity was much stronger now than hunger.

* * *

Marie lay unconscious on the table in front of him, her chest rising and falling evenly. It had taken nearly two more months before he had been willing to go ahead with the surgery, and he was still nervous about it. He gingerly removed her eye patch; as he looked down at the depressed eyelid he carefully allowed his gloved hand to gently brush against it.

A sudden image of pressing his thumb down against the eyelid, pushing down into the empty socket, of exploring it with his fingers, rushed through him and he closed his eyes focusing himself. Even though she was unconscious he could feel the calming effects of her wavelength. A moment later he carefully pulled her eyelid open to reveal the empty socket and placed a couple of very small, delicate stitches in the corners to keep the eyelid open.

The surgery was long and arduous. It took him nearly twelve hours to make sure that everything was connected as he needed it to be. He readministered anesthesia to the unconscious woman and continued the surgery. Seven hours after that he removed the stitches that were holding her eyelid open and took her limp hand in his, holding it to his lips briefly.

"I hope you will see me when you wake up, Marie," he said quietly to the unconscious woman.

-0-

Marie opened her eyes and yawned.

'_Eyes.'_

Marie blinked, her vision clearing slowly from her long sleep.

'_I don't have on my eye patch. I can see.'_ A tentative hand reached up to the left side of her face, stopping with the fingertips resting on the top of her cheek. She could see them.

"_I'm dreaming." _ Marie whispered quietly to herself.

"I should hope not. I don't want nineteen hours of surgery to have just been a dream." Stein's voice came from her left.

Marie couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face as she realized that she could see him without even turning her head. She blinked, enjoying the feeling of both eyelids closing at the same time. "Franken… I… I haven't been able to see like this since I was four!"

Tears slipped from her eyes and Marie marveled at the liquid that hit her fingertips. "I'm crying!"

"That's good. It means I didn't mess up the tear duct surgery either." Stein said with a small smirk, leaning back in his chair. "Don't touch it," he said suddenly, his hand catching hers. "It's still too early for you to go poking it. You don't want an infection. Just enjoy being able to see again."

Marie tugged on his hand, pulling him close to her and raised her head up to meet his lips. "Thank you so much, Franken… I can't imagine how much work you had to put into this… just for me…"

His hand touched the skin right below her eye, the thumb brushing lightly against it before a smirk split his face. "Not just for you, Marie."

She looked at him curiously. "I'm a scientist, Marie. Anything and everything is for experimentation. This one just had a happy consequence of restoring your sight and making you happy." Stein's smirk grew wider as the death scythe processed what he had just said.

"I know I should be mad at you," she said after a second, "but I just can't be right now. I love you, Franken."

He smiled down at her.

* * *

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater, and I have nothing witty to say.**


	13. What She Deserves

Marie stood in front of the mirror, Stein's hands resting lightly on her shoulders as she stared at the image that was reflected back to her. She had two eyes. Two virtually identical eyes. Whatever had been causing the cat's eye to not reflect the light correctly had obviously been corrected; there was no odd glare to her left eye.

And she could see out of it. It wasn't a simple prosthetic; Stein had created something that allowed her to actually _see._ Tears welled up in the woman's eyes as she stared in the mirror. She watched, fascinated as they fell down her left cheek, her hand wonderingly touching them.

"Franken… I don't know how you managed to figure out what no one else has, but thank you…" Marie said awkwardly, "I don't know what I ever did to deserve this…"

"You were you, Marie." Stein said, his hands slipping down her sides to rest on her hips as he let his chin rest lightly on her shoulder. "It suits you, you know. Your eyes are beautiful; you deserve to have two of them to show off to the world."

The uncharacteristic compliment made her spin to face him. Stein smirked down at her as he took advantage of the situation to kiss her. "Have I made any progress?" He asked.

She smiled up at him and pulled him down for another kiss before answering, "You still have a way to go."

* * *

They had the wedding three months later. Azusa stood with Marie and Spirit stood with Stein; Lord Death himself walked (floated) Marie down the aisle to give her away. Stein stood tall in front of Justin Law, his hands itching to reach up and turn the screw in his head, to pluck at the stitched tux he wore, to do anything that would help relieve the sudden nervousness he felt.

Murmurs ran through the crowd as Marie came down the aisle, her eye patch long gone. Her dress came down to her shins in the front and trailed a good three feet behind her. They had forgone having a ring bearer and flower girl; Azusa and Spirit were holding the rings.

Stein took Marie's hands in his own as Justin Law began the ceremony. "We are gathered here today to witness the joining of two people, Franken Stein and Marie Mjolnir, whose hearts and souls are already entwined as one. They now desire to profess before the entire world their intention henceforth to walk the road of life together."

He turned to Marie. "Do you, knowing this man's love for you and returning it, vow to accept him as he is, with all his flaws and weaknesses, and to help him overcome them until death shall separate you?"

Marie stared into Stein's eyes, her breathing quick. "I do." A blush rushed across her cheeks and she had trouble not looking away as Stein smirked at her.

Justin then turned to Stein. "Do you, knowing this woman's love for you and returning it vow to accept her as she is, with all her flaws and weaknesses, and to help her overcome them until death shall separate you?"

Stein didn't hesitate. "I do."

"The rings, please." Justin said, looking to Azusa and Spirit. They handed the rings up to Stein and Marie.

Stein slipped the ring on Marie's finger as she slipped his on his finger, and surprised her by speaking. "I, Franken Stein, take you, Marie Mjolnir, to be my wife, to be my friend and love, beside me and apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquility, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not know yet, and ask that you accept me the same."

Marie was overwhelmed and could only nod as tears threatened to ruin her carefully applied makeup. Stein was still smirking at her.

"You may kiss the bride."

He pressed his lips against hers and she flung her arms around his neck. "I love you, Franken."

There, in front of everyone, Franken Stein finally repeated her words. "I love you, Marie. It seems I found the reason for you to stay."

Marie giggled as they walked down the aisle. "Yes, you did. I'm so glad you did."

* * *

**A/N: Ta-da. It is over… such a fun journey getting here. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I'm glad that so many people like it so much!**

**A special thanks to modest giant; her Strangeness & Charm (check it out!) story made me rethink how I had went about Heart Shaped Stitches, and was a huge motivating force behind this story. Another big thanks to **XStrawberryDuckFeathersX**- the grammatical tips have improved the quality of my writing, so thank you.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


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